


Takeaways

by Denois



Series: Drabblefest 2018 [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: First Kisses, Fluff, Fluff and stuff, Getting Together, M/M, Pining, dex pov, jotober, jotober2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-07-25 19:50:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 6,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16204484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denois/pseuds/Denois
Summary: Drabble fills for Jotober (using Inktober prompts).Featuring NurseyDex from Dex's POV.





	1. Poisonous

**Author's Note:**

> Started writing for Jotober a few days late and realized I was doing all Dex POV fluff, so I'm going to try to keep in that theme.
> 
>  
> 
> [Jotober comes from this post on tumblr.](http://nepeinthe.tumblr.com/post/178495633917/writeblr-inktober)

“Would you ever sing for me, Poindexter?”

“No.”

“You will.”

Nursey’s smile was smug and self-assured in a way Dex very rarely felt. In that moment, Dex thought about the difference between venomous and poisonous. 

Venomous animals were often brightly colored and gaudy. Something to attract attention and say “Don’t mess with me, I’ll hurt you.”

And honestly, the same could be said for a lot poisonous plants and animals. 

When Dex was five, he almost died. He’d been hiking with his brother and father and he’d found some berries and eaten them. They looked just like berries he ate from the bushes behind their house. 

Sometimes, what you think is safe and familiar has the power to stop your heart.


	2. Tranquil

Dex didn’t trust the calm. 

The ocean was only truly calm in the middle of a storm. Any time he worked inside, calm only happened right before he was hit by an avalanche of extra work. 

Calm was an illusion that made people let their guards down.

He wasn’t calm when Nursey knocked on his dorm door at midnight on a Friday, holding two pairs of skates and raising an eyebrow. 

He wasn’t calm as they skated across the pond in the eerie brilliance of street lights reflected off snow.

He wasn’t calm as Nursey grabbed his hand, pulling them to a stop surrounded by ice and falling snow.

He wasn’t calm as Nursey pressed their lips together. As he breathed in Nursey’s expensive cologne and shampoo.

But as they pulled apart and he looked into Nursey’s eyes, he thought he might be tranquil.


	3. Roasted

Dex knew that people thought of him as uncultured. Occasionally even ignorant or stupid. He wasn’t Nursey to spout poetry. His brain didn’t work in rhyming couplets. 

But he’d always loved myths. Ones about the sea were his favorites, but right then all he could think about was Icarus. 

He’d always thought the myth didn’t make sense. As he labored on the boat, the sun beating down and roasting his skin, he couldn’t comprehend someone wanting to fly closer.

But for one moment, he looked across the ice, and the sun streaming through the windows of Faber gilt Nursey’s face. A metamorphosis into Apollo. 

And Dex knew, he couldn’t stop flying, though his wings be made of wax and his skin seared and roasted.


	4. Spell

The first time Dex met Nursey, he knew that he was in trouble. 

Dex didn’t fall for the hot ones. They tended to have an ego too big to work around and a nice jaw and broad shoulders just weren’t worth it. So he had a strict policy about the maximum hotness that was acceptable to consider anything beyond eye candy, and Nursey was way past that limit. 

And then Nursey had captured his gaze and he’d been trapped. He knew what it felt like to have the force of someone’s intent on him, and that’s exactly what this felt like, a spell. 

But two can play at that game, so he’d collected some ingredients, basil from the Haus kitchen, a rose from the campus grounds, he’d brought a piece of quartz with him and a bottle. So that night, under the moon, he wove the spell and I lied it with his intent, protect him, protect his heart. 

Because Nursey could break him so easily just by walking away.

His spell worked, though not as he intended. He fell hard for Nursey, but he was never broken.


	5. Chicken

Dex had never lost a game of chicken. 

Back in high school, guys thought they could prove how tough they were by trying to make him flinch. Throwing punches, skating straight for him, one time even driving towards each other as fast as they could like they were in some movie about the fifties. He never flinched, he never lost. 

His heart was racing faster than it had any of those times. Not because he didn’t want to lose, but because he was terrified this would end up being just another game of chicken. If it was, then even winning was a loss. 

But then Nursey’s lips were on his, soft but firm, and Nursey’s hands were in his hair as he adjusted the angle.

Dex had never lost at chicken. And now he finally felt like he’d won.


	6. Drooling

The bus was asleep. 

Except for Dex. 

He was frozen in his seat, staring at the back of the seat in front of him.

Because his shoulder was wet.

Because Nursey was laying on his shoulder.

And Nursey was drooling.

Can’t-fall-asleep-until-he’s-exhausted-unless-he’s-in-his-own-bed Nursey had fallen asleep on Dex’s shoulder.

40 minutes outside of Samwell.


	7. Exhausted

Dex was read to drop. He’d been up until 4 am trying to fix bugs in his code for the project that was due at 8, then the bus and a hard fought game and as they pushed into the hotel room, all he wanted to do was drop face first onto a bed and sleep. 

But if he was tired, then Nursey was exhausted, leaning heavily on Dex’s shoulder as Dex carried their bags and very nearly carried him as well. Dex managed to maneuver them into the room and dropped the bags on the floor before immediately deciding they could be ignored until morning. He pushed Nursey into the bathroom and looked longingly at the beds before digging in Nursey’s bag to find his silk scarf to wrap the pillow for him. 

“Help.” 

Dex turned to see Nursey in the doorway from the bathroom, shirt bunched up on his arms and tangled over his head. Dex helped him extricate himself from the clothes and made sure he got into bed without falling, then took his own turn in the bathroom. 

Once done, and free of clothes, Dex stumbled over to the bed and collapsed into it. A warm arm slid around his waist and he smiled as the darkness took him.


	8. Star

No one could look at Nursey and say he didn’t shine. It was why he was on the cover of the course catalogue. Why he was the face of the SMH website since Jack graduated. Why strangers felt compelled to come up to him and talk. 

It went beyond physical attractiveness. Ransom consistently ranked higher on Samwell’s 50 Hottest. There was something indescribable. Ineffable. Je ne sais quoi. 

Dex watched him across the room and thought that this feeling might be what his ancestors felt as they navigated by the stars. 

Nursey was a star. Dex hoped he was a competent navigator.


	9. Precious

Dex had always had things that were precious to him.   
A toy long coveted before the money was scraped together for a birthday or Christmas. A particularly interesting rock found on the shore by his brother and given to him. A dented old toolbox full of old, worn tools that once belonged to his grandfather.

He kept them pristine. Handling them gently and always making sure they were in their place and cared for. 

He’d never really thought about it. It’s just what you did with things that were important. 

\---

Dex pressed a bottle of water into Nursey’s hand. “Drink it.”

He watched to make sure that Nursey followed his direction and didn’t spill too much before continuing the after kegster, Nursey Patrol routine. Pulling shoes off, helping change into sweats, putting medicine and another water bottle within easy reach of the bed. And finally pulling the blankets over Nursey, turning out the light, and locking the door. 

\---

Dex had always recognized what was precious. He knew how to keep them safe.


	10. Flowing

A river of ink was flowing from Nursey’s pen. He was using Dex’s favorite ink, the one that looked like the bay when it was all riley. 

Dex allowed himself a few moments of watching the smooth pass of the pen over paper, Nursey’s fingers gripping gentle but sure. Nursey was focused, so his staring went unnoticed. But Dex did have his own work, so he reluctantly dragged his eyes back to his laptop. 

He was tapping the melody to a song in his head while trying to decipher a line of code when Nursey’s voice broke through.

“Do you believe in kismet? Fate?”

Dex stopped and blinked, looking over at him. “Like a river flows, surely to the sea. So it goes, some things are meant to be.”

Dex wasn’t sure why he quoted an Elvis song, especially since he was a firm believer in the scientific reasons why rivers flow to the ocean.

But he watched as Nursey’s lips twitched up and he also knew he did believe that some things were meant to be.


	11. Cruel

Dex woke up alone. And cold. 

These sheets were not right, slick and smooth, retaining none of the warmth like his flannel sheets. 

He pulled the blanket around him tighter, rolling to make himself into a burrito. 

Much better. He wiggled a little as he nuzzled into the pillow to return to sleep.

“Really, Dexy? Stealing the blanket while I hit the head? That’s just cruel.” Nursey’s weight made the bed dip as he climbed back in beside him.

“Mine. Getcher own.” Dex furrowed his brow. Nursey’s voice and the tugging was making it very difficult to go back to sleep.

“This is my own. It’s my bed.” 

Dex considered this for a moment and then wiggled until he could lift one edge with his arm. 

Nursey quickly rolled into the space and curled into Dex, allowing Dex to wrap the edge of the blanket around them both.

Nursey was right, it was much better to share the blanket.


	12. Whale

Dex was very confused when Nursey took him out to the marina, and even more so when they got on a boat. But Nursey wasn’t answering any of his questions. 

Finally, the boat stopped.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, if you look to the east, you will see a pod of humpbacks. We cannot get closer to them, but they may come closer to us. And if we are lucky, they might breach for us!” The tour guide was smiling so wide it looked like it hurt and Dex did not envy her. Instead he dutifully looked off towards the whales.

“Huh. Usually Hippocampus is with another group and doesn’t come up this far so early.”

He felt Nursey shift beside him. “What? Are you seasick? You aren’t making sense.”  
Dex rolled his eyes and pointed to one of the whales. “That one that’s slapping it’s flipper? It’s called Hippocampus. I usually don’t see it until later in the year. It like to blow bubble rings, so maybe we’ll get one of those.”

“How do you know the whale’s name?” Nursey was talking slowly and when Dex looked up, his gaze was focused on Dex.

“You know I work on a boat, right? The whales come through every spring and summer.”

“Oh my god. I took you on a romantic date to your job. I’m an idiot.” Nursey folded his arms on the railing and leaned his head against it.

Dex put his hand on Nursey’s shoulder. “Only a little bit. Come on, this gives me a chance to introduce you to my colleagues. I think I see Pumba and Yoo Hoo too.”


	13. Guarded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit more of an emotional hurt/comfort. There are nightmare mentions. FYI in case you need to skip this one.

Dex was a guarded person. He was pretty sure anyone who knew him, knew that. But it hadn’t really occurred to him that maybe Nursey was just as guarded. 

They’d spent two years sharing a room on roadies, and they’d shared a room in the Haus for ten days before Dex was woken by Nursey thrashing around and crying out in his sleep. 

“Nurse? Are you ok? What’s wrong?” 

He was actually whimpering at this point, so Dex climbed out of bed to investigate. 

What he found was, Nursey, still in bed, still asleep, apparently unhurt but clearly in distress.

Dex put his hand on Nursey’s shoulder, intending to shake him awake. “Nurse? It’s ok.”

At his touch and words, Nursey seemed to settle, the tension relaxing out of his body. 

Dex shook his head and pulled away, intending to get back to his own bed. As soon as he moved, Nursey started reaching out in his sleep, the distress returning.

“Really? Ok, you know what. Fine.” Dex ran a hand through his hair and then pushed Nursey over until he could climb in beside him. Almost immediately, Nursey curled into his side and Dex tentatively wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Yeah. I got you. You’re ok.”

Dex stared at the slats above them until morning. He’d learned something new.

Nursey was guarded.


	14. Clock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had one job. Keep these fluffy. What did I do? I made it kinda angsty. That pining angst. Oh no. My heart.

The clock had been Dex’s enemy for most of his life. 

Watching it slowly tick down in class and at work. Praying for it to go faster when they were ahead on the ice, or slower to give them time to score just one more goal. 

The very phrase “you’re on the clock, Poindexter” was enough to irritate him. A deadline. An expectation. A need for him to do something and do it right or he’d let everyone down.

These nights were no exception. He argued with himself, about if he wanted them to come. Nursey sleeping through the night was best for Nursey. But if he didn’t, it gave Dex an excuse, a reason, to climb down and hold him. 

And watch the clock. Tick slowly up. Meting out the moments.

He pressed it, most days. He told himself he’d move ten minutes before the alarm sounded. Most days it was five, or two. Or one.

If Nursey noticed the bed was warm where he’d been, he never said. 

Dex watched the clock, and dreamed of a day when it was no longer his enemy.


	15. Weak

Dex’s brother used to call him weak. Push him down, laugh when he cried. And taunt him about how weak he was. 

Dex put a lot of effort into proving him wrong. He worked out. He fought. He toughened up. 

He stopped letting people hurt him, even if that meant he had to stop them from getting hurt, or keep them out entirely.

Things were different at Samwell, defensemen cried, wingers produced pie from thin air, people could be themselves.

But sometimes the walls one builds to protect oneself become the foundations of their personality. And Dex was not weak.

Until Nursey’s lips were pressed against his own, soft and sure. Nursey’s hand on his waist, another in his hair. 

Dex’s knees went weak and buckled under him. He fell, scrambling to catch himself on the walls as he went.


	16. Angular

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why do I keep making the Dex's pov ones feel so poetic? Dex, are you secretly a poetry guy deep down and you just don't want to tell Nursey?? Metaphors about carpentry are ok.

Dex knew that he was made of hard angles and rough edges. He was abrasive, he rubbed people the wrong way. Even when he wasn’t trying to. 

Like sandpaper or a file, he wears down those around him until they are worn too thin. So he learned to keep a distance. 

Until he couldn’t. 

Until he was looking at the angular face of the boy before him, feeling worn smooth by hands running up and down his sides. Sunlight was streaming through their bedroom window, gilding curls and picking out flecks of green and grey in his eyes. 

Had he ever been the sandpaper? Or was he the one that needed to be sanded smooth? 

Perhaps they both wore away each other’s rough edges until they fit together as smoothly as their lips.


	17. Swollen

Dex had tested out of the freshman biology requirements. He was an athlete. He knew, logically, that swelling was caused by excess blood or fluid in an area. He knew to apply ice and for how long and how long to wait between applications for swelling on nearly every part of the body. 

Dex knew all that, logically.

But as he felt the cool air rush across his swollen lips, he couldn’t help but think it was just his body trying to get that much closer to Nursey. 

Since his mind agreed with his body, he leaned in to bridge the space again, tilting his head to allow him to slot their lips together. His movements felt syrup slow. His fingertips tingled with the urge to grab and grip and hold while he restrained himself to the lightest touch at Nursey’s jaw. 

Nursey pulled away and Dex let him go, allowing his own head to drop. He was burning too hot, bruising himself on Nursey’s edges. Dex knew he should apply ice to reduce the swelling. Ice his heart before the damage was permanent.

But then a hand pressed gently against his cheek, Nursey’s long fingers cupping his face and turning it up. He allowed his eyes to slit open, to see Nursey’s face, swollen from his kiss. 

Nursey’s other hand fisted in his shirt, pulling him close again and Dex thought-

Sometimes heat can aid in healing too.


	18. Bottle

Dex loved studying at Founders with Nursey. He’d never admit it, but he did. The afternoon light would come in the windows and gild Nursey’s edges while throwing his features into a sharp contrast of gold and shadow. His face would change emotions every few minutes while he read, and, when he really concentrated, he’d move his lips while he read. He was pretty sure wars had been fought over sights less beautiful than Nursey studying in Founders.

“I’d be a millionaire.”

Dex didn’t realize that he’d spoken out loud until Nursey’s eyes focused on him.

“What’s that Poindexter?” He’d had to pull a pencil out from between his lips to speak. That seemed supremely unfair. There ought to be a law.

By the time Dex’s brain stopped being jealous of a pencil and caught up with the question, Nursey was waiting with raised brows. And fuck, Dex couldn’t really see a way out of admitting it now. He cleared his throat. “I was just thinking that if I could bottle up certain moments and sell them, I’d be a millionaire.”

“Damn, Dexy. That was almost poetic.”

“Shut up, Nurse.” Dex threw his pen in Nursey’s direction to try to distract from the way his ears were burning.

Dex buried himself in his laptop and homework, refusing to look up again. Until his phone vibrated with an incoming text.

> Nursey: want to buy 1 bottle perfect moments, will repay in kind

Dex tried to look slyly over his screen, but Nursey was focused on his reading again.

> Dex: that’s a terrible business plan. I’ll never be a millionaire through bartering.

He’d already started typing his acceptance anyway when another text comes through.

> Nursey: damn your monopoly. Payment in kind + dinner.

> Dex: you’re a dork. But offer accepted.

> Nursey: think I just became your dork. So what does that say about your taste, hmm?

> Dex: still better than yours.


	19. Scorched

Dex finished applying the sunblock to the back of his neck and ears and looked over at Nursey, dubiously. 

“Did you put on sunblock?”

Nursey snorted in reply. “I don’t burn, Poindexter.”

Dex rolled his eyes and squirted more of the sunblock into his hand so he could apply it to Nursey’s exposed skin.

“What the hell? If you wanted to rub all over me, you could have just asked, Dexy.”

“You might not burn, but you’ll end up scorched. Skin cancer would be a very unchill way to die, Nurse.”

Nursey finally stopped talking and didn’t argue as Dex applied the sunblock to his face, neck and arms. Instead, Nursey watched him and Dex felt his skin heating as though he was the one being scorched. Dex ducked his head and kept working, making sure to get Nursey’s hands, including between the fingers. He’d been burned there before and it sucked.

When he moved to pull away, Nursey’s fingers curled over his own, holding his hand in place. Dex stares at their joined hands until he realized Nursey had pressed closer, his face inches away.

“May I?” Nursey’s words were barely a breath across his cheek, and Dex jerked his head in a short nod. 

Dex gasped slightly as Nursey’s lips covered his, pressing gently and sliding. Dex leaned into it, opening his lips and squeezing his hand linked with Nursey’s.

Nursey pulled back and started flicking his tongue out and spitting like a cat that ate something it didn’t like. Dex watched stunned. 

He’d never had any complaints about his kissing before and this was just overly dramatic. Not to mention the rudeness of kissing him just to chirp him. But, Nursey wasn’t letting go of his hand either.

Finally, Nursey looked up and must have realized by the look on Dex’s face what he was doing. “Um, sunblock tastes horrible?”

“No shit.”


	20. Breakable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> allusions to injuries, none occur in text.

Nursey pushed Dex’s arm down and Dex looked over at him, his heart still beating wildly.

“Chill, Poindexter. I’m not breakable. And surprisingly, the seat belts in your car actually work, so. Overkill much?”

Dex forced himself to take several deep breaths and then refocus on the road to drive. He ignored Nursey’s chirps. 

Honestly, that was probably a mistake, because Nursey noticed. Even when he tried to ignore Nursey, he always reacted unintentionally. 

“Dex? Seriously. It’s ok. It was just a sudden stop. It wasn’t going to hurt me.”

Dex swallowed before responding, his eyes still fixed pointedly on the road. “Thirty-six. That’s how many times you’ve hurt yourself resulting in a twist, sprain, or major bruise. Just since I met you.”

“Yeah.” The word was long and drawn out. “And I’ve always recovered. I’m not breakable. I will survive if I get a little hurt.”

Dex gritted his teeth and muttered under his breath, “Sure, but will I?”


	21. Drain

The problem with the bathtub in the Haus is that it wasn’t big enough for an actual bath. At least not for someone of Dex or Nursey’s size. Which meant that Dex’s impulse buy over the summer had stayed stored in his bag for months, unmentioned and nearly forgotten. 

At least until one of their roadies that involved a hotel stay. Most of the hotels had bathtubs only marginally larger than the one at the Haus. But maybe he and Nursey had somehow been put in a room with an extra large tub, or this place just really believed in tubs to fit every size, because it was big enough for him to lay in and only be a little scrunched. 

Which is definitely not something that Dex did before pulling himself back up and proceeding to take a quick shower. Once he was done and dried off, he blocked off the drain and spent some time adjusting the temperature as he let the water flow to fill the tub. He peeked in the room quickly, but Nursey was gone, probably snuck down to the vending machines for the Gardetto’s that he’d been whining about craving. 

He quickly found the plastic bag in an inner pocket of his hockey bag and then rushed back to the bathroom. He’d just slipped back in when the outer door opened as Nursey returned. The expansive tub was finally getting close to full, or enough that it would be once a person was in it, so he shut off the taps.

“Dexy? Are you taking a bath?” 

He could hear the chirp in Nursey’s voice and took a few deep breaths to ground himself before dumping the contents of the bag into the water and then opening the door.

“Nope. You are.” 

With that, he quickly stepped to block Nursey from the rest of the room and pushed him into the bathroom while he was still stunned and confused, pulling the door closed after. 

“I spent ten dollars on that bath bomb, you better not waste it, Nurse.”

To his surprise, Nursey didn’t even try to fight and open the door, so once he heard sloshing that indicated Nursey had actually gotten into the tub, Dex released the door and went to lay on one of the beds. 

Just thinking about Nursey relaxing in the tub allowed the tension in his own shoulders to drain away.


	22. Expensive

Dex was eight the first time his uncle took him with to the hockey store. While his uncle dealt with getting blades sharpened and picked up a new pack of laces, he’d been looking over all the boot styles, lightly running his fingers over the leather of ones that were really cool. 

“I’m gonna have some like this someday.” Dex grinned up at his uncle when they were ready to leave. 

His uncle glanced at the three digit price tag and grunted. “You got expensive tastes, kid.”

Dex thought of that long ago trip while he followed Nursey around an upscale shop, trying to replace clothes that Nursey decided against. He’d been rehanging some shirts that Nursey decided against when he brushed against the softest sweater that he’d ever felt. 

He didn’t notice when Nursey came up behind him while he was still staring at the sweater, until Nursey let out a low whistle. “That’s nice. You got expensive tastes, Dexy.”

Dex blinked and looked up. “Sometimes it’s worth it.”

Nursey grinned at him. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” Then his face fell a pout. “Are you gonna get it? Because I’m starving.”

Dex rolled his eyes and shook his head fondly. “Isn’t there a cafe a few doors down? Why don’t you go ahead down there. I thought I saw some earrings my ma might like and I wanna check how much they are.”

Nursey just stared at him, so Dex pushed him gently. “I won’t get lost, I’ll be there in just a minute. You’ll be fine without me.” 

Once Nursey finally left, and Dex checked the windows to be sure he really had gone, Dex grabbed the sweater and approached the cashier. 

“Any chance you offer gift wrapping and delivery?” 

“Yes sir.”

Dex eyed the total as his purchase was rung up. “How much would that be to add on?” 

“They are complimentary services.”

Dex relaxed slightly. His bank account was going to be only almost completely empty. But he was pretty sure he could get some extra hours at work, he’d just have to deal with ramen for awhile and hope his truck didn’t break down. 

“Sir, I need the name and address for delivery?”

“Right, uh. Derek Nurse…..” 

 

When Dex entered the cafe, Nursey’s face lit up and it made Dex smile in return. He couldn’t get every nice thing that he liked, but at least he had one.


	23. Muddy

“I don’t want you to wash my clothes. I don’t want you to keep our home. I don’t want your money too. I just want to make love to you.” 

Dex sang softly, under his breath as he fingered the chords on the guitar. It had been awhile and he was out of practice, so he’d jumped at the chance when Holster offered to let him borrow the instrument. 

“You keep singing Muddy Waters and I’ll let you.” Nursey fell onto the couch next to him, nearly bouncing into his lap and forcing Dex to scramble to protect it.

“Something’s wrong with you, Nurse. The Blues is what turns you on?” Dex shook his head and readjusted the guitar.

“Something about wallowing in misery just does it for me I guess. Must be why I hang around you all the time.”

Dex snorted. 

“Or, you’ve just seduced me with your velvety voice and knowledge of Chicago Blues.”

“I’ve seduced you, huh?” Dex kept his head down, but dared a glance through his lashes. Nursey seemed sincere.

“Unfortunate, but true.”

“That mean you’ll let me take you out on Friday?”

The pause was deafening and Dex felt his cheeks burning as he tried to think of a way to play it off as a chirp but came up empty.

“Yes. But only if you let me take you out on Saturday.”


	24. Chop

“Oh shit, Dexy got the Samwell Chop!” Nursey’s comment was punctuated with his hand running through Dex’s hair. 

Dex swatted his hands away, ducking out of range. He’d arrived as early as possible to get the room set up, but he still had some more unpacking to do.

Still, he couldn’t help a smile and running his own hand through the soft curls that appeared when he’d let his hair grow out a bit longer on top. Then, very consciously, he pulled his hands away from his hair. He’d been doing better with the therapy techniques he’d learned from the student mental health center, but trichotillomania was really persistent and he didn’t want to end up with a bald spot and needing to cut it all off again. 

He’d worked really hard to be able to have this style and he wanted to keep it.

“Yeah. Thought I’d try it out. Didn’t want you to have the best hair in the room.”

Nursey’s hands managed to find their way into his hair again. “It looks good, Poindexter, but I don’t know about that good.”

Dex huffed a laugh and leaned into Nursey’s fingers rubbing at his scalp. 

“But maybe second best hair in the Haus.”

“You think so?” Dex turned slightly to look at Nursey out of the corner of his eye. He wasn’t prepared for the look that Nursey was giving him. “Nurse?”

“I’ve, uh. I’ve gotta go get the rest of my stuff.” Nursey seemed reluctant to pull his fingers from Dex’s hair.

Which was fair, since Dex nearly leaned after him from the loss.


	25. Prickly

Dex had felt prickly all day. If he said that out loud, Nursey would chirp him about always being prickly. But this was different. 

This was an irritation crawling along his skin. An urgent need to reach out and grab...something. But nothing was right. He tried water, food, took a nap. Nothing made the feeling go away. 

He was sitting at his desk, trying to do homework and desperately trying not to claw his forearms in an effort to override the sensation when Nursey returned to the Haus. He didn’t realize it at first, until Nursey squeezed his shoulder and leaned in to plant a kiss on his cheek. 

His skin settled slightly, only to prickle again when Nursey moved away to put up his books. 

“Oh.”

Dex stood and wrapped his arms around Nursey’s back. 

“Can we have cuddle time?”

Nursey turned and looked at him skeptically. “You never ask for cuddle time. What’s going on?”

“I just need to touch you. Is that ok?” 

“It’s always ok. Anytime.” Nursey punctuated the statement with a firm kiss before pulled Dex down onto the bed.


	26. Stretch

“Come on, Dexterous. You gotta stretch or you’ll hurt yourself.” Nursey was far too upbeat for this time of the morning. He was never upbeat at this time of the morning. 

Dex glared at him suspiciously. Dex knew to stretch. He had to stretch more than most of the guys thanks to ill-healed injuries from his youth. Dex kept his mouth clamped firmly shut. It was too early, Nursey was too chipper, and Dex hadn’t had any coffee yet. Once they started to run, he’d probably wake up more, probably.

He was sitting on the floor, knees butterflied and leaning forward when two hundred pounds of his defense partner landed on his back. “What the hell, Nurse?” 

Dex was actually impressed that he kept it that civil. Then again, he was squished and his inner thighs were burning, so additional speech was also beyond him.

“I’m helping you stretch, Dexy.”

Dex finally managed to dislodge his partner and straighten his legs. “Everything I do is a stretch.” He wasn’t bitter, he was just tired. Even if the statement was true. Applying for a private ivy league school, applying for the hockey scholarship, falling for one of the hottest guys on campus. 

He stood up and started stretching his hamstrings. “Worry about your own stretches, Nurse.”

Nursey stood in front of him and tilted his head. “Hm. Ok. Do you want to get brunch at Jerry’s after this?”

Dex sighed. “I can’t really afford that today. I just had to replace the fan belt in my truck.”

“I, uh, I would pay. Because I asked you. And, like, it was as a date. So, like, if it went well or whatever, then you could get next time.”

Dex dropped his foot from where he’d been holding it behind his butt to stretch and stared at Nursey, who was looking almost shy. He blinked a few times but everything stayed the same. 

“If it goes well. Huh, that is a stretch. But, ok. Sure. I’d, uh. I’d really like that.”

“Chill.”


	27. Thunder

The sound of distant thunder was soothing. But when it was close, it meant danger. Of course, the problem with thunder as a warning sign was that it arrived after the danger had come and gone. Lightning ripped the sky apart and thunder proclaimed it after.

Nursey came into his life like lightning, ripping him apart. Just like when he was a kid, he counted the seconds until the thunder. Trying desperately to judge how far away the danger was, how safe should he feel. 

When Nursey ran his knuckles across Dex’s cheek and whispered his name, Dex knew it was too late to run. Lightning and thunder at once, lightning had struck. 

So he surrendered to the storm, pressing his lips to Nursey’s seeking mouth.


	28. Gift

“I told you. I don’t like it when you give me things. I don’t need your gifts.”

Dex took several breaths. He was really not trying to start a fight, but Nursey just didn’t seem to understand. Dex couldn’t take more than he could return in kind and Nursey had already given him so much.

“Dexy, it’s no big deal. I just saw it and thought of you.” Nursey looked hurt, in the way that meant he was trying to hide it behind the thin veneer of chill. 

Dex grabbed his hands and squeezed them. “I really appreciate it. Please don’t think that I don’t love that you think of me when we’re apart, that’s.… Honestly, that’s more than I ever hoped for. I just can’t give you anything like this stuff and you’ve already given me so much. I get to be with you! That’s the only gift I need.”

Nursey studied him through half lidded eyes, before pulling him close and nuzzling into his cheek. “But, don’t you understand, Dexy? I’m so far behind on gifts. Because you are a gift and I get you every day.”


	29. Double

Dex set the cup on Nursey’s desk, out of the way of his limbs.

Nursey noticeably paused and looked at it before rolling his head back to look up at Dex. “What’s this?”

“Spider Cider. Hot apple cider with caramel and cinnamon. Annie's was running a special, so I got us both a double.” Dex took a pull from his own cup. It was really good and he hoped they kept it in some form. Because he couldn’t stand their hipster coffees, but this, this he’d be willing to get on a regular basis. 

“You’re a double.” Nursey’s response was automatic, but he reached for the cup to try a sip.

“You’re trouble.”

Nursey set his cup down quickly and spun around, jumping to his feet. “Prepare for trouble!” He looked at Dex expectantly.

Dex rolled his eyes and responded deadpan, “and make it double.”

“To protect the world from devastation!”

“To unite all peoples within our nation.”

“To denounce the evils of truth and love!”

“I’m not going to finish this. Can’t we just be Double Trouble and not do the Team Rocket motto every time?” 

“Oh, Dexy. It’s like you don’t even know me.”

Dex slid in close and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I can just never take it seriously when you denounce truth and love.”


	30. Jolt

Dex agreed to put his life into Nursey’s hands and he wasn’t really sure why. Regardless, he was blindfolded and allowing Nursey to guide him across campus. 

Well, he hoped they were still on campus. Nursey wouldn’t say where they were going.

After what felt like hours, but probably wasn’t, Nursey finally stopped him. 

“Ok. Take off the blindfold.”

Dex pulled it off and looked around. Spread out before him was a blanket with a picnic basket in a small clearing on the far side of the Pond. 

He looked at Nursey. “What’s all this?”

“You’ve been stressed, but your midterms are done. So we are going to have a picnic and watch clouds and argue over what they look like, and then we’ll probably do some stargazing.” Nursey looked very pleased with himself. 

And, ok. It was nice. He could use some time to unwind. This just wasn’t his normal method of decompressing. Still, spending time with Nursey alone would probably make it worth it. He strode over to the blanket and dropped onto it. 

“Ok. Hit me. What do you have in the basket?”

“We’ve got cookies and cola.”

Dex raised his eyebrows. “Cookies and cola? Since when do you call it cola?”

“Since I managed to snag some retro Jolt Cola.” Nursey held two cans up with a wide grin.

“Ok, no. We are not drinking that stuff. Why would we even need twice the caffeine? And, wait, let me see those, are those the original run?” Dex felt his eyes getting wider as he looked at the information printed on the cans.

“Nurse. These were produced in the eighties. We are not drinking soda that is older than we are. There is a significant chance we would actually literally die.” Dex lunged forward and grabbed the other can from Nursey’s hand before he could open it.

“We’ll just keep them as mementos, yeah?” He smiled placatingly.

“Ok, but if you get thirsty, one of us is going to have to venture back into reality and I was hoping to avoid that.”

Dex stretched out on the blanket and reached up to Nursey. “How ‘bout you just lay down here with me and we move on to the cloud watching?”

A few minutes later he stopped fighting to keep his eyes open as Nursey snored softly into his neck. He tightened his arm around his boyfriend and smiled as he drifted off.


	31. Slice

“Hey, Dexy, grab me a slice would you?”

Dex turns to look at Nursey, a chirp already on his lips about tipping the server, but it dies there. 

Nursey is hunched over the table, papers spread everywhere and eyes shifting back and forth as he scribbles notes. And really, it’s homework. It’s a frantic rush to get a paper done because he didn’t start it soon enough and it should not be endearing. But then Nursey puts his pencil between his lips so that he can use both hands to flip through the books and Dex is transfixed by the way he rolls his lips over his teeth to hold the pencil without biting down too hard.

Dex turns back to the counter and swallows thickly, serving up another slice of pie and his heart.

**Author's Note:**

> see me on tumblr @ [SexyDexyNurse](https://sexydexynurse.tumblr.com/)
> 
> And you know I live for that sweet sweet validation, so hmu on tumblr, kudos and comments are appreciated. 
> 
> Thanks for reading. I love y'all.


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